


Compromise

by sammysouffle (talesandthings)



Category: Daredevil (TV), The Defenders (Marvel TV), The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Attempted Murder, Developing Friendships, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Humor, Nightmares, Post-The Punisher, Protective Foggy Nelson, Protective Frank Castle, Suicidal Thoughts, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-23
Updated: 2017-11-23
Packaged: 2019-02-05 19:54:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12801162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/talesandthings/pseuds/sammysouffle
Summary: They are both in a bad place. They both need each other. Now they must only learn to live together.





	Compromise

**Author's Note:**

> There aren't any major spoilers for the first season of Punisher here. But if you would like to avoid any and/or all spoilers, then you might not wanna read this.

It wasn’t an ideal situation. This whole place felt like it was out to get him. He could hear the sirens outside, he could also hear the couple fighting with each other two doors down, but he still felt so isolated. This place was an hour away from his old place. Karen claimed that the further away he stayed from his previous life, the safer he would be. 

Foggy doesn’t care about his safety. He just wants to return to the way things were. Or at least, the way they were after Matt. 

He was drinking a lot these days. But then again, he had been drinking for months. Way before he moved in this shithole of an apartment. It started sometime after the untimely death of his best friend. 

Grief, remorse… guilt… all of it contributed to his drinking, and now his apartment smelled like a roadhouse. Foggy _would_ say that that was a step up from the dead rat smell this place had before, so he was really doing his apartment a favor by drowning himself in alcohol. 

Foggy was on his own for the most part. Karen sometimes came to visit. But in the last two weeks, those visits had become scarce. Foggy found out  _ why  _ a few days ago when Karen’s face was plastered all over his television screen because some gun nut was threatening her. Speaking of gun nuts, it looked like Castle was back, and somehow involved in this whole thing. What else was new? 

Foggy's heart ached as he watched the news anchors talk about Frank Castle cheating death. He wished Matt could cheat death too, and come back to him. But unlike Castle, Matt had a whole building collapse on top of him. There was no coming back from that. Trust Matt to do everything else wrong but somehow do dying right.

With Karen disappearing off to god knows where Foggy was left even lonelier than before. He couldn’t go anywhere outside the 5-mile parameter Karen had set for him. 

You see, there were people, _unknown people_ , trying to kill Foggy. 

After the second attempt on his life, Karen made the executive decision to move Foggy to a safe house. Foggy had to quit his job, break ties with Jeri and Marci, and move all the way up to the Bronx. He wasn’t too happy about the whole situation but then again, he wasn’t too sober either. He’s pretty sure Karen clubbed his drunken ass over the head, and carried him here. Because one minute he was in his shiny new apartment in Manhattan, and the next minute he woke up in this ratty apartment in a different borough. 

So that’s how he got here. Friendless, jobless, and Marci-less. Okay, so maybe the third one wasn’t that big of a downside. 

***

Foggy sat cross-legged on his couch, stuffing his mouth with Frosted Flakes while Christmas songs played in the background. 

Thanksgiving just finished a few days ago. It was his first Thanksgiving away from his family. It was also his first Thanksgiving, in 10 years, without his best friend. Even when they weren’t talking the previous year, Foggy still went over to Matt’s with leftovers from his mom. His mom threatened to disown him if he let Matt spend Thanksgiving on his own. Foggy assured her that Matt had Karen but turns out he was wrong. Karen was in Vermont and his stubborn best friend was all alone at home. Wallowing. Foggy stayed with Matt until he ate and then spent another hour drinking wine with him before heading home. 

This Thanksgiving Foggy drank on his own as he himself wallowed in self-pity. He couldn't stop thinking about how well and truly alone he was. 

Foggy now understood what it must have been like for Matt when neither Foggy nor Karen were around. The only difference is that Matt chose to be alone. Foggy didn’t choose this. He couldn’t live like this. He might just die of alcohol poisoning come Christmas if he was left alone. 

As Foggy thought about his supposed demise on Christmas, a loud rapping on his door startled him and almost made him drop his bowl on the floor, and make his old, ugly carpet even uglier. Or maybe it would add some color to the carpet and make it look nicer. He should try that theory sometime, Foggy thought to himself as he got out of the couch. 

Foggy was trying to avoid answering the door. His heart threatened to leap out of his chest as he took, careful steps towards the door. Karen had a key so she didn’t need to knock, and no one else was supposed to know he was here. Foggy kept telling himself that if someone was here to kill him, they wouldn’t alert him by knocking on the door. But some irrational part of his brain pointed out that maybe this killer enjoyed toying with his victims before killing them. 

Foggy slowly picked up the baseball bat that sat beside the door and looked through the peephole. He let out a deep, relieved sigh when he saw a familiar face on the other side. 

“What the hell happened to your key?” Foggy asked, throwing the door open. 

“What are you doing with that bat?” Karen countered, trailing her eyes from the bat to Foggy’s face, and raising an eyebrow at him. She looked  _ well.  _ And by well, Foggy meant she looked alive and void of any injuries. Foggy was getting increasingly worried about her when she didn't turn up. He was also making up scenarios in his head. None of them were good. 

Foggy sighed and tossed the bat aside, which landed somewhere with a clang before he wrapped his arms around Karen’s neck and pulled her into a tight hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” Foggy admitted his fear out loud. “I was so worried about you.” He squeezed Karen one time and pulled apart to find her smiling. “Oh no. Don’t give me your charming smiles, young lady. I am furious at you. What the hell were you thinking, Karen? Provoking a psychopath? Is that your thing now? Because if it is, it’s a bad,  _ bad  _ thing. And you’ll get yourself hurt.” 

“Foggy-” 

“Why would you take such stupid risks, huh?” Foggy didn’t let Karen speak. 

“Foggy-” 

“I’ve already lost one best friend. I can’t lose the other one too,” Foggy continued. “First Matt, now you. You guys need to start thinking about the people around you- who care about you, who-who love you-” 

“ _Foggy_ ,” Karen stopped him, grabbing onto his shoulders. “I am okay. And I’m sorry, I didn’t come around sooner. But I promise you, I am _fine_.” 

“Fine! Of course, you’re fine. You’re-” Foggy paused and his eyes widened when he finally registered the figure behind Karen. It was a man in a black hoodie. It took a few seconds for the realization to finally hit him in the face like ice water. Castle. “What the hell?” Foggy squeaked when he found his voice again. “What is  _ he  _ doing here?” 

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you, Foggy,” Karen replied sheepishly. She stepped back and reached out to touch Castle’s shoulder, who didn’t spare her a glance and instead stared directly at Foggy with those intense brown eyes of his. Karen let out a short puff of breath before saying, “Frank needed a new place to stay so I brought him here. He’s your new roommate.” 

“No.” Foggy replied without missing a beat. 


End file.
